Like the petrol in your car, most plastics are made from crude oil.
We can create lots of different kinds of plastic.
Plastic is used to make thousands of objects, from rubber ducks to carrier bags.
Plastic bottles can take 500 years or more to decompose.
Some plastics are recycled but huge amounts end up in landfill sites, incinerators, as litter or floating in the sea.
Based on the original book ‘How We Make Stuff’ by Christiane Dorion, Templar Publishing, 2012.
Website text by Christiane Dorion - Design by Harriet Pellereau.
© 2012 Ellen MacArthur Foundation - Illustration © Beverley Young - Text © Christiane Dorion